WC2002 Finals will start with a Group Stage and will finish with a series of Knock-out rounds.
32 nations will compete in the group stage and 16 will progress to the knock-out rounds and the other 16 will be eliminated.
The rest of the championship will be one-game knockout style type of competition. 16 nations will play and try to knock the other out of the competition until the winner is decided.

The Group Stage:

32 nations play in 8 groups.

The nations will be awarded three points for a win, one for a tie and none for a loss. They will be ranked according to the points accumulated and the goals scored for and against.

Top two nations in each group will progress to the knock-out round.

The tie-breakers:
1 - greater number of points obtained in all group matches
2 - greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned
3 - goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned
4 - greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned
5 - goal difference in all the group matches
6 - greater number of goals scored in all the group matches
7 - drawing lots by the Organizing Committee for the FIFA World Cup